We break out the press badges to break down Nintendo’s presence at this year’s E3 and the shifting significance of the show. Plus, GTA V adds character, When to watch for Watch Dogs, XCOM gets Declassified, and The Witcher 3 won’t include MP, QTE, or DRM! All of that and more on this direct edition of gaming’s most brutal video game podcast!

TOPIC: To E3 or Not To E3 – That is the question! – With Nintendo all but bailing on E3 2013 and major companies like 2K pulling back on presence, we evaluate the state of the industry’s largest trade show and discuss its relevance in a quickly growing internet age. What’s expected? What’s reasonable? What’s the best way to be seen and heard during E3? We do our best to discuss – sans booth babes!

I used to buy a bag of candy in high school during break times and all my friends got some out of that bag. After a while i noticed that some of my friends do the same thing and share, while others just take the candy day after day without returning the favor. At some point you see that you are being taken advantage of by some of your friends.

When it comes to the different publishers then yes i have to agree, they are very similar. Both Valve and EA have similar models to make money. Full priced games, Free 2 Play games etc. etc. The difference lies within the service surrounding it though. Where EA makes you pay for a game, Valve makes you pay for a game but gives you a map maker in return. Where EA has micro transactions, Valve has micro transactions but also gives the community Steam Workshop to do their own thing.

Where EA keeps taking the candy day after day, Valve returns the favor and lets you have some candy. Valve acknowledges that we are in this together. We need them to make games, they need us to make money. We give to them, they give to us. That's how a relationship works.